Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Observation
and
Experiment
Satellite
Images
Stakeholder
Preferences
What is
changing
and on what
scales?
Modelling
and
Predictions
Long-term
Monitoring
IMPLICATIONS
FOR
BIODIVERSITY,
ECOSYSTEM
SERVICES AND
SUSTAINABLE
LIVELIHOODS
Ecological,
Social and
Economic
Context
Baselines,
Management
Targets, and
Adaptations
ADAPTIVE
MANAGEMENT
CYCLE
CHANGE
OVER TIME
Drivers,
mechanisms
and
Feedbacks
Repeat
Photography
Future
Scenarios
Local, National
and International
Policy and
Governance
Historical
Ecology
Palaeo-ecology
Increasing societal contribution
Fig ure 6.7
Long-term data in the context of the broader biodiversity, conservation, and sustainability
arena. Knowledge of change over time is central to understanding changes in ecosystem services, such
as water provision, biodiversity, carbon storage, and climate regulation. These services underpin agri-
culture, forestry, pastoralism, and other livelihoods. Planning realistic management targets and imple-
menting adaptive management cycles will depend on the linkage between changing ecosystem services,
stakeholder preferences, social, and economic drivers in the context of local, national, and international
policy, such as commitments to biodiversity conservation, carbon emissions reductions, and sustaina-
bility (Gillson and Marchant 2014). Reproduced with permission from Elsevier.
landscapes as part of a past-present-future continuum, in which a long-term perspective is
needed to understand what is changing, on what scales and how this impacts on stakeholders
through effects on ecosystem services, both now and in the future. A multidisciplinary approach
is needed that incorporates long-term data from palaeoecology, historical ecology, and long-
term monitoring alongside ecological and socioeconomic studies and modelling scenarios.
This information then needs to be set in the context of ecological and planetary boundaries, in
order to decide whether current use of ecosystem services is likely to be sustainable (Rock-
ström et al. 2009, Glaser 2012, Griggs et al. 2013, Hughes et al. 2013). Furthermore, the local and
cultural context of management options needs to be considered, and conservation and sus-
tainability efforts are more likely to be successful if they are culturally sensitive and locally
appropriate.
Understanding how societies have impacted and managed ecosystem services allows real-
istic management targets to be set and contributes to sustainability science (Wu 2006, 2013,
Musacchio 2011). Palaeoecology and palaeolimnology are being used effectively in the man-
agement of water resources, specifically in designing water restoration plans that are in
accordance with the historical range of variability in terms of water quality and ecosystem
function (Gell 2010, Bennion et al. 2011). Long-term studies of soil management in the tropics
are providing models for sustainable agriculture that could help to stem deforestation, aug-
ment carbon storage, and contribute to sustainable livelihoods (Glaser 2007, Fairhead and
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